Thread: Buying a Digital Piano

Have you considered using your computer? Soundfont tech, external keyboard, amp and speakers? I use 4 AR studio speakers on one of my systems, don't sound bad at all.
I prefer building a system then buying something fixed and dedicated.

No thanks, not for me, I'd rather just have a self contained digital piano. Don't really care if it would save me money, I'm just too lazy and want something professional looking that feels like a piano, not something I've just botched together. No offence

Originally Posted by Pensive Patrick

No thanks, not for me, I'd rather just have a self contained digital piano. Don't really care if it would save me money, I'm just too lazy and want something professional looking that feels like a piano, not something I've just botched together. No offence

No offence taken.
But you should have said appearance was more important than reality. Pro's prefer this botching thing.

I agree, having a nice dedicated piano with no setup required is nice. Sometimes you just want to play piano without having to mess around with all the extra patching nonsense. Needless to say, over complicating things can be much more of a hinderance than a help. The Clavinova's are AMAZING (I've had mine for 10 years and it's still incredible), but you can get something similar but cheaper if you check out the Korg upright electric pianos. I didn't just look it up, but if I recall they're closer to the $1k range.

And pay no mind to phil being a dick. He does that.

Thanks Artelis, I would love to have a Clavinova one day

The dilemma is just how much quality I have to sacrifice for going down the price range.

You can always save up for the quality that you want, like anything else... Might even be cheaper in the long run if you know you won't be satisfied and will want to upgrade shortly after.

Originally Posted by Pensive Patrick

Thanks Artelis, I would love to have a Clavinova one day

The dilemma is just how much quality I have to sacrifice for going down the price range.

The Korg is much less satisfying than the Clavinova, unfortunately. Should probably bustle on down to a guitar center or something to play various pianos so you can find the one that feels/sounds the best to you.

Originally Posted by Philosopher8659

No offence taken.
But you should have said appearance was more important than reality. Pro's prefer this botching thing.

Something can be said for getting away from the computer to play an instrument, like with real pianos. One day I would love to get a nice, expensive acoustic baby grand... in my dreams....

Right now I have a silver Casio (wk3700). It seems fine to me. Lots and lots of buttons/different tones, though.

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

One day I would love to get a nice, expensive acoustic baby grand... in my dreams.....

Already saving up for my baby grand, woot woot!

Originally Posted by Artelis

Already saving up for my baby grand, woot woot!

Where are you going to put it ?

Originally Posted by Artelis

The Korg is much less satisfying than the Clavinova, unfortunately. Should probably bustle on down to a guitar center or something to play various pianos so you can find the one that feels/sounds the best to you.

Yeah I'm planning on going to Bruce Millers (big music shop) next time I'm home in Aberdeen and trying out all their digitals. They have a massive range but they're all pretty expensive... but you're right about saving money in the long run by just going for a good quality one rather than pining for it and buying it anyway later after buying a mid-range one.

Yeah, without a doubt just go and play them all, find the one that sounds/feels the best. They are definitely not all created equally, and there are some that will be comparably priced but one will sound much better than the other. You just need to test them all out personally, don't listen to what other people claim as the best because you might think differently...decide which one you want, then go back home, and find it for way cheaper online. It was a few years since I got mine so I don't know if prices have gone up or down since then, but with the pedals and the bench and everything, don't plan on spending under $800-$1000 total for a nice one. I got mine for $600 but that's only because I was living in Bangkok at the time, and stuff is way cheaper there. It would have been $1200 if I got it in the states. Yamaha. It sounded the best of all the ones I tried, even better than some of the more expensive ones which sounded too muffled.

Originally Posted by Aquanina

Yeah, without a doubt just go and play them all, find the one that sounds/feels the best. They are definitely not all created equally, and there are some that will be comparably priced but one will sound much better than the other. You just need to test them all out personally, don't listen to what other people claim as the best because you might think differently...decide which one you want, then go back home, and find it for way cheaper online. It was a few years since I got mine so I don't know if prices have gone up or down since then, but with the pedals and the bench and everything, don't plan on spending under $800-$1000 total for a nice one. I got mine for $600 but that's only because I was living in Bangkok at the time, and stuff is way cheaper there. It would have been $1200 if I got it in the states. Yamaha. It sounded the best of all the ones I tried, even better than some of the more expensive ones which sounded too muffled.

woo, ya the Clavinova is a Yamaha keyboard. Yamaha equipment is insanely solid, too. There was a Yamaha synth at Berklee that when you tilted it left and right, you could hear the electronics sliding around (probably came unscrewed from the frame). Needless to say, they would clunk about in a way that you'd think the stupid thing should even turn on, but it still worked perfectly.

Anyway, Spartiate, hopefully someday I'll own a house. Maybe.

Thanks nina, I have a feeling I'm going to be slightly biased towards Yamaha too... I've listened to the clavinova demo videos on their website and they sound better than all the acoustic pianos I've played